By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 3 -- Two days after 700 non-violent protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge, Inner City Press on Monday asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban or the UN had anything to say about the arrests.
Nesirky said, "Obviously we are aware of the reports. I don't have anything immediately for you, nothing at the moment." Video here, from Minute 9:40.
The UN is less than 100 blocks south of the United Nations which has issued pronouncements usually following the US' about crackdowns in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
Reports of the arrests had gone all over the world, and Ban Ki-moon was in New York over the weekend, arriving Monday morning to swear in the fourth consecutive French chief of UN Peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous. Whereas sometimes Ban sees advantage in commenting, here he apparently saw none.
Zuccotti Park on October 2, Ban Ki-moon not shown, (c) MRLee
At a previously scheduled press conference at the UN George Soros was also asked about the Occupy Wall Street protests. He answered that he "understood the sentiment," then talked about small businesses having their credit card interest rates raised from eight to twenty eight percent and mentioned the Tea Party.
Inner City Press, having been at the protest on October 1 and the next day in Zuccotti Park saw fewer small businesses -- other than book sales and quilt repairs -- and little direct discussion of small business credit card rates. The critique was more fundamental, that "Predatory Lenders" -- and perhaps currency speculators -- "Ate My World."
George Soros & Jeff Sachs at UN Oct 3, OWS not shown (c) MRLee
Also at Monday's UN noon briefing, Nesirky gave a long answer to Inner City Press' question from September 30, about a plan to build a new building for the UN on top of what is now a public playground. Nesirky said that the plan is by the UN Development Corporation, not the UN, and the UN has not been part of the planning.
Inner City Press asked if the UN Foundation having hired a lobbyist to counter opposition to the loss of the playground could be attributed to the UN. Apparently not. And so it goes at the UN.
